Sunday, April 10, 2016

Entrails of a Virgin (1986)

"Entrails of a Virgin" is a movie that, for a while, was pretty notorious, though many had never seen it, joining the ranks of "Premutos", the "August Underground" series or more recently, "The Human Centipede" and "Serbian Film"* as something that was fucked up beyond belief. Therefore a must for fans of the most hardcore of horror.

The plot really isn't much to talk about. A group of people involved in a soft core porno film end up hitting someone (or something), and end up having to take refuge in a warehouse. In between discomforting sex scenes and a bizarre wrestling match, a demonic creature (who is basically a dude covered in mud) begins to knock them off one by one-well, he kills the dudes, then rapes and kills the women.

Outside of the disappointing killer, I actually liked "Entrails of a Virgin." By that, I mean I liked the horror part of the movie. Director Kazuo "Gaira" Komizu** actually proves himself to be a pretty competent director, clearly inspired by both "Evil Dead" and Italian horror (creative cinematography and fog drenched landscapes and atmosphere) and the slasher genre (some pretty nasty death scenes, including one of the most depraved disembowelment scenes I have ever seen) whilst still managing to make it feel like it's own movie. Also, if you've seen Adam Wingard's directorial debut "Home Sick" and then see this, you will recognize that the character Tiffany Shepis plays that goes insane is clearly modeled after the woman who goes insane in this movie.

What I don't like-everything else. I know it's a movie called 'Entrails of a Virgin." I'm not expecting anything politically correct from this. I don't even mind an abundance of sex scenes. However, I don't like an abundance of sex scenes that play out like rape scenes, and rape scenes that have women enjoying the act. That shit does not fly with me. Nor does the conclusion, which just-happens. Once we see why the killer is doing this, the viewer is still confused. There isn't any rhyme or reason for it other than the director wants to see women being raped and degraded.

It's not only gross-it's frustrating. There are actually things I really like about this movie. I just wish at the end of the day, it didn't make me want to bleach my eyes when it was over.

Rating: 5/10

* I still haven't seen that movie, and I doubt I ever will.

**Gaira has done other films of this ilk-including "Entrails of a Beautiful Woman", "Female Inquisitor" and "Guzoo: The Thing Forsaken By God." He also did the tamer zombie film "Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay", which I reviewed in the past.

About Me

A Wright State University Graduate, Joseph Howell has been an avid horror fan since he was seven or eight years old-he has Godzilla movies to thank for that. He's now devoted some of his time to watching (and at times suffering through) horror and exploitation fair to review for your reading pleasure. Oh, and he loves Cherry Coke Zero, and he recommends eating popcorn while watching older genre movies.